The Pinnacle of College Hoops

#2 Texas A&M
-The Aggies appear to be the Jayhawks toughest competition in the Big 12 this year.  They have the size inside to compete with the Jayhawks.  Joseph Jones, DeAndre Jordan and Bryan Davis are about as good as it gets inside in the Big 12.  Jones is a proven low post scorer, Jordan is young and athletic 7 footer that runs like a gazelle and has the potential to be a dominant defensive player and Davis is a strong, athletic and energetic low post threat.  With their size, length and mobility inside and their solid perimeter defense this should be one of the more consistent defensive teams in not only the Big 12 but the entire country.
Offensively, they’re not as dynamic as Kansas because they don’t have the playmakers on the perimeter.  Dominique Kirk, Donald Sloan, Josh Carter and Derrick Roland have done a good job this year running this team and generating offense but they’re not on the level of what the Jayhawks have to offer.  Carter is one of the best shooters in the Big 12 though and Kirk is one of the most experienced and steady guards in the Big 12.  However, the play of Sloan and Roland will likely be the key to this teams ultimate success this year because those two are the darkhorses on the squad.  A&M is a top 25 team that’s good enough to play in the Sweet 16 and possibly the Elite 8 but I doubt they’re good enough to make it any farther come March.  Not an elite team but close.

#3 Texas
-This is without a doubt one of the best offensive teams in the entire country.  Their big three of D.J. Augustin, Damion James and A.J. Abrams are as good as anyones in the Big 12.  Augustin is as good of a player as you’ll see in college basketball this season.  He’s the best point guard in the country because of his ability to score efficiently for himself as well as his teammates.  No one in the country does it better at his position.  Abrams gives Texas a lethel perimeter shooting threat as well as another capable ball handler.  James has been a pleasant surprise for the Lonhorns this season.  He was underused as a freshman last year but with Kevin Durant gone he has been able to step up and out of Durant’s shadow this season.  He’s an extremely strong and athletic kid that loves to rebound and play physical basketball around the hoop.
The problem with the Lonhorns is that they don’t have a lot of depth or options outside of their big three and they’re not a very good defensive team right now.  Anytime you have to rely heavlily on three players to score you need to be a better than average defensive team and Texas is not a better than average defensive team currently.  They just do not have a lot of size up front to work with and they can be beaten up on the interior against just about anybody. 
All in all this team has very good guard play and that is clearly important come March.  Texas takes very good care of the basketball and as long as they’re able to force teams into playing their slower style of basketball than they should have a good shot at making a good run March.  Final four type run?  Unlikely but possible.  Not an elite team but close.

#4 Missouri
-I’ve been a rather big fan of this basketball team for quite some time now.  I liked the way they played against both Michigan State and Texas and while they’re record of 11-5 might not looked great, none of their losses can be percieved as bad losses, in my opinion.  As long as Missouri plays Missouri basketball they have the type of talent, depth and coaching to play with just about any team in the country.  Missouri must pressure the basketball, create havoc and get teams to play out of their comfort zone. 
Players like Stephon Hannah and DeMarre Carroll have shown that they’re consistent offensive threats.  However, players like Leo Lyons, Keon Lawrence and Matt Lawrenece need to be more consistent.  This is a team that has a number of different players that can score in a variety of different ways and that is what makes this Missouri team a difficult team to beat.  They have shooters, playmakers and finishers.  What they lack though is a true low post scoring threat with size.
This is team that will get by as long as they’re able to create havoc and those types of teams typically are not built well for March.  Teams can and will score consistently against Missouri and outrebound Missouri all year and in the end that will likely be what does them in come March unless they have an offensive explosion.  They’ll be a darkhorse team come March but they’ll likely get knocked out in the first weekend.

#5 Baylor
-It’s hard to put the Baylor Bears this high up considering they’re still a rather unrpoven team even though they’re led by juniors and seniors.  The fact of the matter though is that Baylor has one of the best back courts in the entire country.  Believe me, it’s true.  This is a team that is led by it’s guards.  Curtis Jerrells and Aaron Bruce know how to play Big 12 basketball and both of them are above average guards.  However, it’s the depth this teams back court has that makes them most scary.  Henry Dugat, Tweety Carter and LaceDarius Dunn make this one one of the most dangerous back courts in the country.  All of these guards can shoot and score the basketball and with playmakers like Jerrells, Bruce and Carter there are always shots to be found.
Obviously though this team has it’s fair share of weaknesses.  They lack interior scoring and rebounding once again this year and that is what has done them in the last couple of years.  Their only post player that sees consistent minutes is Kevin Rogers who has proven to be a capable scoring option in the post but an inconsistent one. They have about four to five other “big men” that see minutes from to time but none of them are capable of giving Bayler both offense and defense.
Baylor should be happy with just getting in the NCAA Tournament this year.  It would be a remarkable accomplishment considering where this program was four years ago.  There is no doubt that this team has the talent and experience to get into the NCAA Tournament.  Their guards are good enough to get them by but they likely won’t be able to do much damage once they get their bid.

#6 Oklahoma
 -Losing freshmen phenom Blake Griffin for a whole month is a terrible loss for the Sooners.  With Blake Griffin this is a top 25 caliber basketball team that’s good enough to be in the top 3 or 4 in the Big 12.  Without him they’re probably an NIT team.  Luckily, his injury will not require surgery so he should be back.  However, with him this team is going to have rely heavily on center Longar Longar and guard Tony Crocker, neither of which are proven go to scorers.
What this OKlahoma team is going to have to do over the course of the next month is really buckle down defensively because they’re going to struggle scoring the basketball.  The problem with this idea is that they’re not a great defensive team.  That’s not to say Oklahoma cannot get better defensively because they’re going to have to in order to stay in the running for an NCAA Tournament birth.
What this team does have going for it though is improving guard play led by Tony Crocker and Austin Johnson.  Both have really picked up their play lately and as long as they take care of the basketball and hit open shots this is not going to be an easy team play against.  The key player for Oklahoma though will be Longar Longar.  The senior center has emerged the last couple of years as a capable scoring threat in the pivot.  He’s long and athletic and is effective at drawing contract and finishing around the hoop.  He’s not a go to interior scorer though and it will be interesting to see how he plays without Blake Griffin right alongside him.  Will he step up?  That will likely determine Oklahoma’s fate this season.

#7 Kansas State
-How athletic is Kansas State?  Pretty athletic.  How good is Kansas State?  Not very good.  They have one very good player in Michael Beasley and another pretty good player in Bill Walker but absolutely nothing else.  Their core group of guards in Blake Young, Clent Stewart and Jacob Pullen are all shooting well under 40% from the field.  That’s not good.  Even their forward Andre Gilbert is shooting under 40% from the floor.  In other words folks, this is not a good offensive basketball team.  Unless Michael Beasley and Bill Walker both have good floor games and absolutely dominant the paint and dictate the style of play Kansas State is absolutely unable to play with and/or beat a quality basketball opponent.  That’s a fact.
Fortunetly, this is an athletic and a fairly deep group of kids that do get after it defensively.  They’re a better than average defensive team that needs to be in order to make up for their offensive inefficiencies.  I am not willing to put Kansas State at the top in terms of defensive teams though because a lot of their defensive numbers are very skewed based on their defensive domination over very weak opponents.  Don’t forget that Xavier scorched this team for 103 points. 
I am not sold on this Kansas State team just, yet.  However, Michael Beasley is without a doubt the real deal and possibly the best player in all of college basketball.  And Bill Walker has slowly but effectively stepped up as a reliable #2 scoring option.  That could be all this team needs if their defense ends up being as good as the numbers indicate they are.  In the end though I don’t think this is an elite defensive team and I think they will continue to struggle scoring the basketball because the fact of the matter is that this is not a good basketball team right now.  It’s a team with two good players and 12 below average players.

Oklahoma- 61
Iowa State- 55

Bad Losses
-None

Team Breakdown
-The Cowboys have gotten off to a very hot start this year winning 15 of their first 16 games and are going into the Big 12 campaign as one of the favorites along with Kansas, Texas A&M and Texas to win the conference.  While OSU might not be as talented or as deep as those teams they do have two of the very best players in the conference and have beaten three quality opponents in Missouri State, Syracuse and Pittsburgh.
This team is winning games with very efficient offense.  They have one of the best interior finishers in the country in Mario Boggan(21.7ppg) who is also one of the strongest low post players in the country.  Even though Boggan is undersized as a 6′7 center he’s a bullish player who knows how to get good position down and low and knows how to finish strong on the interior.  He’s also has surprisingly quick feet and is effective facing up to the hoop and scoring as well. 
The other player that has stepped up big time this year is senior combo guard JamesOn Curry(18.9ppg).  Curry is difficult defend because he’s so quick and so good at getting by his defender but if you give him space and play off of him he’ll knock down the perimeter shot with deadly consistency.  This year though he’s also handling a lot of the point guard duties(4.7apg) and is not only scoring but creating shots for his teammates and running the offense.
With Curry and Boggan, OSU has a solid inside-outside combination that makes them very difficult to defend.  However, outside of those two players this team lacks a consistent third scoring option and do not have a lot of depth on it’s roster.  This is also not a very good perimeter shooting team.  Outside of Curry and Harris(11.6ppg) this team is extremely inept from the perimeter.  One other area of concern on offense is team ball handling.  Curry is not a true point guard and their other point guard, Byron Eaton, has struggled with consistency, taking care of the basketball and shooting from the outside.
Defensively, this team is rather average, however, they do have an absolute defensive stopper in Marcus Dove, who at 6′9 can defend up to a number of different positions and gives OSU a perimeter shutdown defender.  Their lack of height on the interior means they don’t have an interior shotblocker which hurts them in the half court setting defensively.
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#2 Kansas 13-2 (0-0)

Bad Losses
-Oral Roberts 71-78
-Depaul 57-64

Team Breakdown
There is no question that is the most talented team in the Big 12, however, they struggled early in the year and were upset by Oral Roberts at home as well as Depaul on the road.  Both of those losses showed that Kansas had some things to work on but they’ve responded well in winning their last seven games with wins over Southern Cal, Boston College and South Carolina.  For this team to continue it’s success they will need to find a go to scorer and will need to not play down to their opponents.
There are not many better defensive teams out there than this Kansas team.  With Sasha Kaun(5.3ppg) getting back to full strength this team has shown excellent interior defense as well as excellent perimeter defense.  Kaun, Arthur(12.5ppg) and Wright(11.9ppg) give Kansas three interior shot blockers who rebound the basketball extremely well to go along with three very quick and attacking defensive guards in Chalmers(12.7ppg), Robinson(6.1ppg) and Collins(7.4ppg).  Last but not least is Brandon Rush(13.3ppg) who is a very underrated on ball defender.  In terms of half court defense, full court defense and rebounding, this team is as good as it gets in college basketball.
Offensively, KU is not quite as dominant but they do have up a number of different scoring options and a ton of athletes.  A lot of KU’s offense comes in transtion, via turnovers.  This KU team loves to pressure the basketball and their guards are very good finishers and passers in the open court.  When teams are able to slow the game down though this team becomes a much less effective offensive team.  A lot of that is because this team does not have a go to scorer.  Heading into the season, most people thought that Brandon Rush would be the teams main scoring threat, however, he hasn’t shown the ability to break defenders down off the dribble with consistency. 
Chalmers is probably the teams most capable scorer and biggest offensive threat to the opposition.  He’s struggled a little with his jumper this year but he’s certainly capable of hitting long rangs shots and scores most of his points in transition with his speed and quickness.  Freshman Darrell Arthur is another player who could step up as the teams main scoring threat.  He arguably has the most offensive talent and skill on the team.  Until someone steps up and becomes the teams leader and consistent main scoring threat this team will likely not live up to it’s lofty preseason expectations.
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#3 Texas A&M 13-2 (1-0)

Quality Wins
-Saint Louis 69-33
-Auburn 87-58 on the road
-Winthrop 71-51

Team Breakdown
It’s hard to tell just how good this Texas A&M team is right now because of their relatively soft schedule.  What we do know about this team though is that they can defend as well as any team in the country in the half court setting.  The Aggies are a defensive minded team with good size on the interior and excellent on ball defenders on the perimeter.  Guards A.C. Law(15.3ppg) and Dominique Kirk(6.9ppg) form one of the best back court tandoms defensively in the country.  They’re also both quality ball handlers that know how to setup the offense and create shots for teammates.  Especially, Law who has developed into one of the finest all around guards in college basketball.  His ability to score, pass, defend and run the offense makes him one of the most valuable players in the Big 12.
Where this teams biggest strength may be though is on the interior with Joseph Jones(13.5ppg) and Antanas Kavaliauskas(12.2ppg).  Both are strong low post players that can score with their backs to the basket.  Jones has proven himself to be an All Big 12 player the last two years and is a physical interior player and one of the best finishers in the conference.  Kavaliauskas is more of a skilled post player with a very soft touch and decent shooting ability.  This size upfront also helps out A&M in the rebounding and post defense departments.
This team also has one of the best perimeter shooters in the Big 12 in Sophomore Josh Carter(12.9ppg) who is currently shooting at a blistering 53% from behind the arc.  With Carter shooting the basketball from the outside and Jones and Kav on the interior as well as Law and Kirk on the perimeter, this A&M team has a very formidable offensive attack to go along with being one of the best defensive teams in the country.
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#4 Texas 11-3 (1-0)

Quality Wins
-LSU 76-75
-Arkansas 80-76

Bad Losses
-None

#5 Texas Tech 13-4 (2-0)

Starting Lineup
C-Esmir Rizvic 7′0 250 JR
PF-Michael Prince 6′7 195 SO
SF-Martin Zeno 6′5 205 JR
SG-Jarrius Jackson 6′1 200 SR
PG-Charles Burgess 6′1 185 JR

Team Breakdown
This is a very perimeter oriented team that relies almost exclusively on their perimeter players to score for them.  Their lack of anything reliable on the interior is a major weakness and a question mark heading into every basketball game.  However, with Jarrius Jackson(21.1ppg), Martin Zeno(16.5ppg) and Charles Burgess(10.3ppg), Texas Tech has three guards that can effectively play together, score points and generate offense from the perimeter.  Texas Tech uses a number of different players at the interior positions but haven’t, yet, found a set starter at either position.
Anytime you have a team that is guard dominated with ineffective post players you’re likely to struggle rebounding the basketball and that is just the case with this Texas Tech team.  The Red Raiders are arguably the worst rebounding team in the Big 12 and they’ll struggle holding their own on the boards in just about every contest they have this year.  The main way that teams can make up for lack of rebounding is by pressuring the basketball and forcing turnovers in order to even out the shot attempts.  This Texas Tech team has the athletes and perimeter players to force turnovers and they will look to pressure as much as possible this season. 
Even though this team is short on talent, depth, rebounding and interior producution in the front court they do have the best scoring threat in the Big 12 in Jarrius Jackson.  Jackson is one of the most underrated and underappreciated players in the country.  He’s consistenly been one of the best scorers in the college basketball over the last couple of seasons and he’s good enough to keep Texas Tech in the hunt for the NCAA Tournament come March.
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#6 Missouri 11-3 (0-1)

Quality Wins
-Arkansas 86-64
-Mississippi State 83-75

Bad Losses
-Purdue 62-79 on the road
-Iowa State 65-66

#7 Nebraska 11-3 (0-0)

Quality Wins
-Creighton 73-61
-Western Kentucky 82-71

Bad Losses
-Rutgers 73-75 on the road
-Hawaii 72-81